There’s nothing Jessie Graff likes to do more than to defy gravity. Whether she’s scaling 15-foot-high walls, jumping nearly five feet in the air, or hanging from ledges the width of a ruler, the 34-year-old American Ninja Warrior queen and professional stuntwoman appears to have superhuman strength and power. But while her natural tenacity and hyperfocus on being her best help, Graff works hard to make things look so easy.
“Almost all your physical success comes from your thought process.”
As one of the top obstacle competitors on the planet — male or female — Graff is constantly looking for new ways to train. The entryway of her Southern California home in the US is a 360-degree gym, complete with climbing walls, padded floors, and hanging bars. She’s even got a backyard trampoline and treadmill pool. “My life’s mission has been to master every style of movement, in every direction”, Graff says.
“I pretty much work to support my training habits.”
No small wonder that Graff found a career as a stuntwoman, for which supernatural abilities just come with the territory, whether that’s plunging from rooftops or crashing a motorcycle — then getting up to do it all over again. “I’m so lucky to have found a job that allows me to constantly learn new skills”, she says. But you don’t have
